Author’s Point of View:
The Lupa’s Manor:
Lily’s room:
“What is today’s date, Liam?” Lily asked as she lazily combed her hair. She was seated in front of her dressing mirror, still fully clothed in her nightwear, an oversize gown.
“Oh come on Lily! We are late, the least you can do is to enter the bathroom and get a quick shower!” Liam bemoaned angrily as he entered her room. He was dressed in a corporate suit, with his long hair twisted like that of a cute baby.
“Late? What do you mean?” Lily asked and sluggishly turned to face him. On seeing that he was already dressed, she froze, and quickly stood up from the chair. “Oh my gosh! I overslept! Why didn’t you wake me up?” She cried out, and began to undress.
Liam sighed at his twin sister’s sluggish behavior, and turned to face the door. “I have warned you to stop undressing in front of me! The fact that we’re twins doesn’t mean I have to see my sister’s naked body! Argh! You are so annoying, Lily!” he growled in annoyance, and quickly left the room.
Lily giggled at his preserved behavior, and happily walked towards the bathroom, her towel around her chest.
Suddenly, she remembered something and paused to think. “Oh no! I emptied my shampoos yesterday! I need to get a new one from the house store! Argh, silly me!”
She scolded herself, and rested on the wall. She contemplated going outside, but knew that her aunts would scold her for being careless.
After thinking for a moment, she took her phone from her bedside and dialed a number.
When the person picked up the call, she sighed in relief. “Liam, can you please get me a packet of shampoo from the store?” She asked with a pleading voice, but Liam hissed and cut the call.
“Argh! What’s wrong with him today? I am doomed!” She cried out and fell on her bed. She looked at her ceiling for a while, thinking about what to do, and later stood up, headed for the door.
As she was about to leave the room, the door was pushed open, and a handsome looking man entered, his brown hair covering some part of his face. He was also dressed in a suit, but looked more mature than Liam.
“Brother Logan!” Lily looked shocked, and batted her long eyelashes at her elder brother in surprise. “When did you arrive?” She asked with raised eyebrows.
“Good evening to you, little sister, how was your beauty sleep?” Logan asked with a cold voice, intentionally avoiding her question.
He stretched his hands forward and handed her the shampoo, which she hesitantly collected. “Hurry up with your bath, we’ll soon start leaving.” Without waiting for her to reply, he put his hands in his pockets and left the room.
Lily stood still, looking at her brother’s back with bewilderment.
….
Dining room:
The room was lively as different sounds of kitchen cutlery and the aroma of tasty dishes overshadowed the awkward atmosphere in the Lupa’s dining room.
Today was supposed to be like every other day; the younger ones in the family would go and have fun, while the grown-ups would concentrate on their mission.
But it was by far different from a normal day, because Adriel’s father’s illegitimate son, Logan, had come back from his seven-year tour.
Logan was born by Adrien Lupa’s mistress, Rose. He was tall, slim, and acted cool. Unfortunately, he was the only one among his step-siblings who wasn’t close to Adriel.
This was because Adriel’s mother, Quinn Lupa, sent Adriel abroad immediately when she heard that her husband had a son outside with his mistress.
Adriel could visit his other siblings, but he wasn’t allowed to visit Logan. And by the time he grew up and matured, it was too late for him to become Logan’s friend.
Logan’s mother, Rose, did all she could to get Adrien to marry her, but it was impossible because Quinn was the owner of Lupa’s fortune.
Quinn’s mother passed her wealth and surname ‘Lupa’ to Quinn before she died, and fortunately, Quinn got married into a royal family, but it still didn’t change the fact that Lupa’s fortune belonged to her, and she was determined to pass it down to her children.
Rose knew that Quinn was in charge of the family, so she was always pushing her son to rival Adriel. According to her, if Adriel was given the family’s fortune, at least her son would be given the royal title. Adriel was aware of his stepmother’s plan, but he paid no attention to it, because he wasn’t interested in his parent’s money. He had billions in his name.
The surname, Lupa, was created by Quinn’s grandmother, and before she died, she passed it to Quinn’s mother, who in turn passed it to Quinn.
It was believed that the name was associated with an ancient vampire coven, the first kind to ever exist. The surname was so powerful and influential that anyone who got married to a Lupa must bear the surname, even if he or she cheats outside, the bastard child must also bear the surname, or else the child won’t be given any inheritance.
Quinn gave birth to five children; Adriel, Lola, Lora, Lily, and Liam. But just like Logan, Lola was also fathered by another man.
After finding out that her husband cheated on her and faked his sincerity, Quinn forgave him, but got married to another man, Thomas Malt, a powerful vampire. Unfortunately, shortly after giving birth to Lola, Thomas died in a clash between vampires and shadow hunters.
Adrien moved back into Lupa’s manor, along with his illegitimate son, Logan. He begged for Quinn’s forgiveness, and she granted him access to the house and her children, but in return, he had to sign a contract which gave her dominance over all his properties, making her the leader and breadwinner of the Lupa’s household.
Vagon and his sister, Roseline Malt, Adriel’s ex, were distant relatives of the late Thomas. After Thomas’s death, Quinn took over all his properties and allocated inheritances to all his household members, maids included.
That was how Adriel’s relationship with Vagon began. They met for the first time when Adriel was five years old, and since then their relationship had blossomed.
Michael Zupa, on the other hand, was Quinn’s nephew. Her brother, Benson Lupa, got married to a young royal lady, Priya Zillen.
And by custom, Michael was assigned to his mother’s surname, but because Priya wanted her son to have an inheritance of Lupa’s fortune, she became close friends with Quinn, and her surname and that of her husband were joined together to form Zupa. The Z stands for Priya, while the rest indicates Michael’s connection to Lupa’s fortune.
Considering his mother’s close friendship with Quinn, and his gentle behavior, he was granted access to live in Lupa’s manor, right after he was one-year-old. And so, he and Adriel grew up as best buddies.
They were around the same age, and always traveled together, acting like twins. When Vagon joined, they were five years old, and Quinn made sure that they traveled abroad together, to prevent them from becoming friends with Logan.
The last of them, Philious Begion-Lupa, lost his human parents shortly after he was delivered. His town was massacred by rogue vampires, and everyone died, except him. He was just a day old, and was left alone for days with no food to eat.
When he was about to breathe his last, Quinn and some of her fellow elder vampires arrived at the scene to check the damage the rogue vampires had done.
The other elders, on seeing how deserted the outside was, didn’t bother to venture further, and they went to inspect other things. Quinn was about to leave when she heard a baby’s cry. She was pregnant with Adriel, and didn’t know what to do.
She wanted to leave the poor human alone, but pitied him. So she turned him into a vampire, and went to hide him in her younger sister, Faya’s house.
For seven years, Philious stayed with Faya, learning all about vampires and supernatural creatures. Faya was a rogue vampire hunter, so she happily taught him all the skills she knew. Every week, Quinn would pay them a visit, and sometimes she came along with little Adriel.
Philious saw Quinn as his mother, and Adriel as his younger brother. And when Adriel traveled abroad, Quinn wanted to strengthen the bond between the two boys, so she also sent Philious aboard.
This was how the four boys came to know themselves, and Quinn made sure that they were always together. The four of them became inseparable brothers, and together they learned to protect each other. But they weren’t friends with Logan, and he always acted like their rival!